REVIEW: Ogio Primitivo 2009

Buy this wine.

Tescos £4.49 on special!

Ogio and I first met by mutual introduction through a friend. When I first arrived in London she advised me to ‘buy this wine when it’s on special’. This is great advice and I encourage everyone to do the same (thank you Natasha). If you’ve been following our mini-updates on twitter you’ll notice we’ve been going on about Ogio for some time.

On first taste it comes across as fruity and full bodied, but retains a lightness on the palate. We agreed it is an ‘easy drinker’. One of us tasted forest berries, the other found it quite peppery. According to the bottle it is ‘packed full of flavours of cherry, chocolate and clove’, perhaps this is why it made such an excellent mulled wine base. I have to admit once I read the description on the bottle I could immediately taste the chocolate, but I suspect this was a psychological effect. Neither of us picked out the cherry, however perhaps this is because neither of us eat cherries that often. The grapes were grown and selected from the ICT Puglia region of Italy – this is located in the south (in the heel of Italy’s boot).

The bottle also announces this wine is ‘best served with rustic Italian dishes or grilled meats’ and ‘it can be enjoyed on its own’. Good to see they have made a wine which covers all bases! I tasted the wine without a meal, it was delicious. My flatmate tasted the wine alongside an Italian pasta dish with feta and agreed it was delicious, but says her views could be taken with a ‘pinch of Maldon sea salt’ as feta has a strong flavour.